The Omega Code (1999)

Aspiring Antichrist survives head wound in this prophetic piece of crap.

The Omega Code (1999)
Directed by: Robert Marcarelli
Written by: Stephan Blinn and Hollis Barton

Tagline: “Not just a movie...It’s a miracle!”

According to the opening title card of this miracle, “Scholars seek ‘The Bible Code,’ a mathematical phenomenon whose hidden messages are said to contain the whole of human history.” Give or take the last two thousand years, that is. A few other title cards follow, but basically, the movie’s premise is this: Like Playstation games, the bible contains Easter eggs. Such as the “Key to Jerusalem,” which grants ultimate global domination, for whosoever controls Jerusalem in the end days shall control the world, and get power-ups and extra ammo.

Our miracle opens in Jerusalem, where an elderly rabbi is doing some sort of Hebrew Junior Jumble. Suddenly, Michael Ironside shows up with the most unconvincing beard since Lisa Marie Presley, and shoots the old man. He swipes a CD-ROM, but his escape is hampered by Siegfried and Roy, who keep bi-locating around corners until it makes everybody nauseous.

Cut to an infomercial set, where Casper the Friendly van Dien (the poor man’s Troy Donohue) has arrived to discuss the Bible Code. After introducing the spellbound audience to a revolutionary hair care regimen, he announces that the bible contains a secret crossword puzzle that foretells the future.

Using advanced pink highlighter technology, Casper proves that the Torah predicted Hitler, the Kennedy assassinations, and Isaac Hayes’ Oscar for Shaft. Then he explains that the murdered rabbi believed the Bible was actually a holographic computer program! And that his shoelaces were actually mind-reading earthworms that could control his feet!

Anyway, it seems we’ve been reading the Bible wrong all these years, since it’s actually intended to be studied in three dimensions; which explains why the rabbi was wearing those paper glasses with the red and blue lenses.

Cut to Rome, where Michael York (the poor man’s Simon McCorkindale) has just been appointed “Chairman of the European Union.” Since the EU doesn’t have a chairman, it’s probably just something the Europeans told Michael so he’d go away. Meanwhile, the UN presents him with its highest humanitarian award, for single-handedly wiping out world hunger by inventing Pop-Tarts.

Back in LA, Casper’s marriage is in trouble, because he’s having “visions,” bouts of ecstatic imagery that some might call “hallucinations,” but others would call “lousy special effects.”

Meanwhile, some Russians are using computer technology to decode the Bible, distilling it into a series of cryptic phrases, such as “Ten Horns Unite World Peace,” “Houses of Isaac and Ishmael Torn in Terror,” and “April: Best Time to Buy a Great Pants Suit.”

The Russians blow up a papier-mâché model of the Dome of the Rock mosque, and Casper immediately rushes to Rome to help Michael revive the Roman empire, and to introduce Michael’s new line of formal housecoats for men.

Meanwhile, one of the Russians wimps out and tries to warn Casper about...something, but he’s gunned down by a unicycle-riding clown.

Michael takes over the world (but in a nice way) and rebuilds the Solomonic Temple. Casper’s visions become clearer, and we begin to see that they’re actually home videos of the Sacramento Jaycees Haunted House.

Tired of playing second banana, Ironside shoots Michael in the head, killing him and abruptly ending the movie and earning our thanks. But Michael really needs the work, so he comes back to life, using the power of those snake eye contact lenses they sell on Hollywood Boulevard.

Meanwhile, afraid that the audience won’t sufficiently recoil from Ironside just because he murdered a man in cold blood, the filmmakers suddenly decide that he’s a homosexual, too! It doesn’t turn out to have anything to do with the story, but they felt better getting it off their chest.

Michael calls the leaders of the world to his bedside, where Sam from Quincy wants to know what it was like to be dead. Apparently, Michael’s answer goes over big, and the leaders appoint him King of the World, on the condition that he bring about a new Pax Romana, and doesn’t make a crappy movie about the Titanic.

The angels Siegfried and Roy reappear, and present Casper with the Final Code. Meanwhile, Michael’s coronation takes place inside the new Temple, which has been meticulously reconstructed, based on Old Testament accounts and archeological data, to resemble the ballroom of the Airport Holiday Inn in Burbank.

Michael is crowned King of the World, but when he declares himself god as well, there is a mighty uproar, and Siegfried and Roy must save all humanity by challenging Michael to a contest of overacting. They seem to have the upper hand, when they are suddenly shot dead by Ironside, who prefers a more understated performance style.

Casper is visited by some bad digital effects, which restore his faith, but nobody really cares. Meanwhile, Siegfried and Roy are raised from the dead, and promptly kill Ironside by giving him a bad case of hairballs.

Casper surrenders the Final Code to Michael in order to prevent further bloodshed, and another dull action sequence, and Michael enters it into the computer, thereby unlocking “the DNA of the Universe.” This act produces a violent lightstorm, which causes Satan to trip, and fall out of Michael’s body. The end.

So, The Omega Code. It helps lower your cholesterol and gives your hair a glossy sheen. No wait, that’s omega-3 oil—the Omega Code is the scientific formula proven by Robert Vaughn to restore hair loss in men.

Anyway, this movie is a dramatization of what some people believe the last days of Planet Earth will be like—trouble in the Middle East, wars and plagues, dead Siegfried and Roys coming back to life, and evil Michael Yorks deceiving everybody into thinking the EU has a chairman. Coincidence? Read the book! That is, the Book of Revelation. As you know (and we’re just trying to make you feel better by saying that, because we all know that you spent your time in Sunday School sniggering at the story of the talking ass), there are several ways to interpret the prophecies in Revelation. This movie (and miracle) uses the futurist approach, which says that most of John’s predictions will be fulfilled in the 3½-year period starting...now! However, other groups interpret the book differently, and until God says, “Hey, I was just kidding; are you people stupid or what?” no one can say where the truth lies.

But that’s not going to stop a variety of snake handlers from coming through town with their bottles of snake oil, lovingly milked from their own livestock, each one selling their unique recipe for salvation (“My faith has flavor crystals!” “Oh yeah? Well my Christianity has replaced the Trinity with patented Chlorinol-3!”). So caveat emptor and go do that voodoo diligence before bestowing ultimate power on a whiny demagogue with a superficial head wound.

Just a thought.